Flash igniter for gas burners



Mgg 8 3923.

Eff-45658 O. SPAHR FLASH IGNITER FOR GAS BURNERS Filed Feb. 24. 1921. 2 Sheets-Sheet l A TT ORNEYS May a, ma

O. SPAHR FLASH IGNITER FOR GAS BURNERS Filed Feb. 24. 1921 www@ 2 Sheets-Sheet '2 AURA/frs of the United States Patented Mey e, 192e.

OTTO SP, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, SSIGNOR T0 STRAUSEGAS IRON' PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLV C0., F PHILADELPHIA,

1,454.5 orne FLASH lemma rca ons sumisas.

Application led February 24, 1921. Serial N09 447,406.

To all'wlwm it may-concern Bel it known that I, O'rro SPAHR, a citizen and resident of Philadelphia county of ,Philadel hia, State of Pennsy vania, have invente certain new and useful Improvements in Flash Igniters for Gas Burners, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to lighters for gas stoves and more particularly to that type thereof which are commonly referred to as Hash igniters and which eitheroccupy a4 fixed position in the 'gas stove forigniting any one or more of a series of as burners 1n sald stove at w1ll or are movab y. arranged therein so that they may be selectively ad- 'usted to i nite any one of said series of urners. gniters ofthe type referred to usually contain, generally somewhere in the connection with the main gas supply pipe, a restricted passage or passages for supplying a reduced amount of fuel to the lighter, when not in use, for the urpose of maintaining what is commonly nown as a pilot light. Because of the location of such passage' or passages, considerable diiiiculty is encountered in drilling or otherwise providing the same and, because of inaccuracies in fitting, inefficient operationof the lighter ofttime's results therefrom, thereby adding to the cost of production and affecting the reliability of the device. Furthermore, said which is more or less constantly urni'n at the nozzle end or burner thereof very o ten generates carbon very rapidly because of imperfect combustion whereby the efliciency of the lighter is very often still further interfered with. The particular object of my invention is to overcome these disadvantages and to provide a novel arrangement which is Vsimple in construction and reliable and accurate in operation and in which the necessity for roviding special restricted passages is entire y avoided, thereby increasing vthe eiiciency of the device to a maximumextent.

Another object of my invention is to provide a simple and novel arrangement whereby the formation of'carbon is eliminated or at least reduced to a minimum and whereby the etlition; Fig. -2 is a ilot light,

' ing-drawings which illustrate an example of my invention without defining its limits and 1n which Figure 1 isa side elevation, partly in section, of a lighter embodying my lnvensectionalelevation on an enlarged scale; Fig. 3 is a plan view; Fig. 4 is a detail view of a washer included in my invention; Fig. 5 is an' elevation, partly in sect1on,"showing another form of the invention; Fig. 6 is a plan view thereof; Fig. 7

Fig. 8 is a detail. View of the valve ;n and Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the nozzle.

For the purpose of describing the invention, l havev chosen anigniter of the type which is generally arrangedto swing in circular arcs to bring the firing head intoccoperative relation with the as burner which it is desired to'ignite; it -w1ll be understood that this is only an example which is not intended yto nor does it define the limits of the invention. v

As shown in the drawings, the` lighter lis a sectional elevationV on an enlarged scale;

free end with a burner or nozzle which will be more fully referred to hereinafter andl with a tiring head 11 of any suitablefconstruction, said tube 10 having its other end in screw-threaded connectionv with the boss 12 of a hollow plugI 13 rotatably mounted in a valve casing 14 in the well known way and provided with-a spring 15 which bears against the valve casing 14 with one end and against a head 16 carried by the plug 13 with its other end. lThe valve casing 14 is connected by means of a branch pipe 17 with the header or main supply pipe 18 of the gas stove in the well known way. As shownV in the illustrated example, 'the plug 13 is formed with an axial passage 19 communicating with a transverse channel 2O which terminates at its outer end at an annular' groove ,21 formed on the plug in registry with the axial passage 22 of the branch whereby' the valve casin is connected with the supply pipe 18. f7l`he axial passagev 19 is formed at one end w1th a valve seat 23 and connected thereat with the interior chamber 24 of the valve plug, said chamber being open at` its outer' end and being also in communication with the boss 12 and consequently with the tube 10. The open end' of the Iinterior chamber 24 ma be closed by means of a screw-threade bushing 25 in which the valve stem 26 is slidably mounted and controlled by means of a spring 27 which engages said bushing at one end and with its other end abuts against a washer 28 carried by said stem; the washer 28 is preferably provided with peripeheral projections 29 arranged at spaced intervals to provide openings for the passage of the gas and to rictionally engage the inner surface of the plug 13 whereby said washer is held against any material rotation and at the same time serves as a means for guiding the stem 26 in its axial movements. the stem is formed with a valve 30 which, in co-operation with the valve seat 23, controls the liow of gas to the nozzle or burner,

4it beingI understood that this valve 30 is maintained in and returned to its normal position by means of the spring 27. In the form shown in Fig. 5, the valve stem is in screw-threaded engagement with a collar 31 and is provided with an actuating head 32, the collar 31, by engagement with the bushing 25, 'arresting the inward movement of the stem 26 under the inuence of the spring 27 and thereby predetermining the normal position of the valve 30 with respect to the seat 23. rlhe collar 31 is fixed against rotation by means of a orli 33 which extends adjacent to squared surfaces of said collar and beneath an annular flange thereof, said Jrork 33 forming part of. an o erating handle 34 pivoted at 35 upon a suitable portion of the lug 13. The fork 33 in co-operation wit the annular Hangs of the collar 31, and through the medium of the handle 34, also serves to ad- 'ust the valve 30 to its fully open position. n the form illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the collar 31 is provided with depending members 31h which extend over opposite sides of the fork 33 and maintain the collar 31a against rotation andrat the Sametime provide a bearing agalnst which the fork 33 bears during the operation oit opening the valve. In this orm, the valve stem 26 is screw-threaded to its free outer end and the head 32 is omitted, the stem itself being provided with a transverse out for the accommodation of a suitable tool such as a screwdriver, to facilitate the adustment of said stem and its valve, as wil be hereinafter more fully described. The arrangement being described includes also a locknut 36 whereby the stem 26 is xed in its ad]usted position against unintentional displacement.

ln both forms, the stem 26 is adjusted `in the collars 31 or 31a to locate the valve 30 at a slight distance from the'valve seat 23 in the normal condition of the parts; in other words, the closing movement of said valve is arrested, by engagement of the collar 31 or 31, with the bushing 25. before the seat 23 is reached. An annular orifice which At its inner end,

meente is `always open is thereby rovided between the valve and its. seat e cient amount oit gas to pass to the tubel() for maintaining a pilot light in operation at the tiring head 11 or, more specifically, at the burner or nozzle end ott the tube 10. The dimensions o the annular orifice reerred to may be varied by adjusting the valve stem 26 in the collars 3i or 31 eo as to provide a large or small pilot dame, as'

mag be desired. v

s shown in the drawings, the suppy tube 10 at its outer end, is in screw-thre ed connection with a nipple 37 which is provided with a relatively reduced passage 38 into which the neck 39 of the nozzle'40 is rictionally fitted. The nozzle 40 is provided in its neck 39 with a passage 41 which diverges outwardly and terminates in a nozzle opening 42 and is constructed with an annular flange projecting axiall rom said nozzle to form a mixing cham r 43. The nozzle is further provided with air inlets 44 which communicate with the' mixing chamber 43 and to which access is facilitated by inclining the end of the nipple 37 as indicated at 45. The arrangement may rther include the previously mentioned hollow firing head 11 of any customa construction and provided in the well nown way with air inlets 46 and 47 and an exit opening 48 in registry with the nozzle 40; the firing head 11 is fitted upon the nipple 37 as shown in Figs. 1 and 5 and is fixed in position thereon in any suitable manner as, -or instance, by means of a screw 49.

The lighter is operated in the customary manner; that is to sa it may be swung in an arc having the p ug 13 as a centre to brin the tiring head 11 nozz e opening 42 into co-operative relation with the burner which it is desired to i 'te. After this adustment has been ha the handle 34 is depressed in the well known way to move the valve 30 in a direction away from the seat 23 whereby the amount of gas which reaches the nozzle opening`42 is temporarily increased and at the selected burner is ignited. As soon. as pressure upon the hand e 34 is removed, the valve will be returned to its normal sition b the action of the spring`27, it ing un erstood that the return or fclosing movement of said valve is never sullicient, because of the adjustment of the, stem 26 in the collar 31 or 31, to completely shut et? the sup ly et gas to the tiring head 11. By proper y adjusting the stein 26 in the collar 31 or 31B, the valve 36 may be caused to engage the seat 23, thereby cutting ed completely the gas supplyl to the nozzle. This adjustment permits t e ilot light to be shut ed, thus saving the iuelpwhich otherwise would be consumed thereby and may be rmits a sufand with it the= a correspondingly enlarged dame is produced whereby the gee loe utilized if, for any reason, the gas stove or its equivalent, of which the igniter is a part, is to remain idle for a ppriod of time as, for instance, in case the ousewife has occasion to leave town for any length of time. i

ln practice, gas passes through the nozzle opening 42 into the mixing chamber 43 and there becomes mixed with air which enters said chamber through the air inlets 44 and provides a highly combustible mixture which results in substantially perfect combustion and a substantially perfect flame. This is true when the {iame is in the form of a pilot light and also when it comprises a flash as the valve 30 is opened for the purpose of igniting one of the gas burners. The formation of carbon and accumulation thereof is therefore substantially eliminated and the reliability and etliciency of the lighter correspondingly increased. In the preferred form, the nozzle 40 is constructed of aluminum or a similar metal asan element independent of the nipple Y37 and is operatively combined therewith simply by means of friction so as to be readily removs able if, for any reason, this becomes necessary. While the described arrangement is particularly adapted for use in connection with flash igniters of the type referred to,

' it will be understood that it may be eiciently utlized in combination with other forms and types of burners. The described arrangement particularly avoids all necessity or the provision of special passages for maintaining a pilot light in operatiton and reduces the construction to the utmost simplicity and at the same time, makes the regulation of the pilot light a simple matter. The latter is due to the fact that the outer end of the stem 26 is, generally ,speaking, in a readily accessible location; at the same time, a novel and highly eiiicient nozzle or burner construction is also provided.

In many cases, the construction of the gas stove and the arrangement'of the parts thereof, makes it necessary to install the lighter therein in a reversed ition or, in ot er words, upside down with respect to the position usually occu ied thereby. To provide for this, the han e 34 may be conshown and described may be made within the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. A gas lighter comprising a valve casing connected with a source of gas, a plug rotatably mounted therein, a supply tube carried by and communicating with said plug, a burner carried by said tube, a valve seat in said plug, a valve slidably mounted therein to control the flow of gas to saidv burner, a stop adjustably mounted upon said valve whereby the closing movement thereof is arrested at a distance from said seat to provide a restricted passage'for supplying a reduced amount of gas to said burner to maintain a pilot flame thereat and a handle for actuating said valve.

`2. A gas lighter comprising a valve casing connected with a source of gas, a plug rotatably mounted therein, a supply tube carried by and communicating with said plug, a burner carried by -said tube, a valve seat Ain said plug, a valve stem slidably beyond the same, the rojectingend of said stem being external y-A screw-threaded, a valve at the inner end of said stem for controlling the supply of fuel to said burner, an internally screw-threaded stop adjustably mounted upon said stem for arresting the closing movement of said valve at a distance from said seat whereby a restricted passage is provided for supplying a reduced amount of gas to said lburner to maintain a pilot flame thereat, a .lock nut for locking said stop in an adjusted position, and a forked handle pivoted on said plugV and projecting beneath said stop for actuating said valve and whereby said plugand its associated elements may be pivotally adjusted relatively to Said casing.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand. l

Y OTTO SPAHR.

vmounted therein and projecting .outwardly 

